Janesville councilman files for bankruptcy

JANESVILLE  A struggling business and divorce proceedings forced city council member Yuri Rashkin to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in April.

“I tried to work with my creditors and find a way to make something work for several months,” he said Wednesday.

Rashkin said he believes the experience will help him represent Janesville residents who have experienced similar financial problems.

“I feel like there’s a lot of people in Janesville who know what I’m going through and I’m not alone in this,” he said. “Frankly, those people need a voice, too.”

Rashkin opened Service First Mortgage in Janesville in 2004. The business became “not viable” when the national economy tumbled, he said.

Rashkin and his wife, Amy, filed jointly for bankruptcy April 3, according to public records.

Chapter 7 often is known as liquidation and puts a stay on creditors. To qualify, an individual or family must make less than the median income after specific expenses.

“I learned that overextending ourselves and counting that things will always be there as they once were is not realistic,” he said.

The couple is in the middle of a divorce, another factor in the decision to file, Rashkin said. The councilman is moving out of his home and plans to rent while waiting for his bankruptcy to be discharged.

Rashkin is attending UW-Whitewater to earn a master’s degree in communications. He does not expect the bankruptcy filing to put that on hold.

“I’m just concentrating on the things in front of me, taking this as a one-day-at-a-time situation,” he said.